Animal mouth opener



Sept. 8, 1953 F. c. FEHRMAN 2,651,300

ANIMAL MOUTH OPENER Fil'ed NOV. 28, 1951 INVENTOR FREDERICK GFEHRMAN BY (BMW ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 8, 195?:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,651,300 ANIMAL MoU'rH OPENER Frederick Fehrman, Washington, D. C. Application November 28, 1951, Serial No. 258,689

My invention relates to a mouth opening de- .vice for animals.

A primary object of the invention is to provide amouth opening device which will greatly facilitate caringfor the teeth of small animals such as chinchillas.

A further object is to provide an animal mouth opening device which will resiliently hold open the jaws of the animal and permit the animal to have some freedom of movement of its jaws While the teeth are being treated.

A further object is to provide a mouth opener for small animals including novel means for engagement with the teeth, which means serve to properly position the mouth opener relative to the animals head and also to present the teeth .in proper positions for grinding and other necesopen by the device;

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent. during the. course of the following description. A

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout same,

Figure 1 is a plan View of a mouth opener embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same,

Figure 3 is a central vertical section through the mouth opener illustrating the operation of the same and the coaction between the device and the animals teeth, and,

Figure 4 is a further side elevation of the mouth opener while positioned for insertion into the mouth of the animal.

In the drawings, where for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numerals l and l l designate upper and lower resilient jaws for holding open the mouth of a small animal such as a chinchilla. The jaws Ill and H comprise forwardly converging bars or sides l2, integrally joined at their forward ends by arcuate bar sections or loops [3. The rear ends of the bars l2 are integrally secured to spiral spring coils I4, disposed vertically and formed with the jaws l0 and l I from a continuous section of spring wire, or the like. The jaws Ill and H diverge forwardly, Figure 2, when 1 Claim. (01. 128-19) in the free condition, and the spring coils M resiliently bias the jaws in their spread apart or open positions. The individual bars l2 are also somewhat resilient, but are stiiT enough to resist closing of the jaws l0 and I! by the animal.

Arcuate reinforcing sleeves [5 are preferably provided, and rigidly mounted upon the forward arcuate bar sections l3 to reinforce the same against bending or twisting. Flat bit plates I 6 are soldered or otherwise rigidly secured to the forward ends of the jaws I0 and II, and preferably to the lower side of the upper'reinforcing sleeve l5 and to the top side of the lower sleeve l5, as shown. The marginal edges of the bit plates l6 are curved to follow the contours of the forward ends of the jaw In and II, and the bit plates have straight transverse rear edges H which are disposed near the forward portions of the straight bars 12.

Each bit plate [6 has a substantially central small rectangular opening 3 formed therein and being slightly elongated transversely of the jaws I 0 and II as shown in Figure 1. .The openings I8 of the bit plates [6 are arranged so that they 5 are in substantial vertical alignment, as shown in Figure 3, and the openings are spaced a slight distance rearwardly of the forward ends ofthe jaws and midway between the bars I! thereof.

The bit plates "I6 are relatively thin, but nevertheless substantially rigid, due to their small areas and their continuous connection with the reinforcing sleeves [5. The openings [8 of the bit plates are adapted to receive the animals upper and lower front fangs or teeth [9 as shown in broken lines in Figure 3, when the device is used to hold open the mouth of the animal.

In the use of the device, the forward ends of the jaws l0 and II are grasped between the fingers and drawn together or closed as indicated in Figure 4 of the drawings. While in this position, the bit plates [6 are introduced rearwardly into the mouth of the animal until the openings [8 are adjacent to the front teeth l9. The jaws l0 and II are now released and the front teeth l9 will pass through the openings l8 as the jaws l0 and H automatically spring open and assume relative positions such as shown in Figure 3. In such positions, the jaws l0 and H force the animals jaws open and maintain them spread apart while the teeth [9 are being ground or otherwise treated by the operator.

The openings l8 are just large enough to accommodate the front teeth of the animal and permit their passage beyond the inner opposed sides of the bit plates, as shown in Figure 3, so

3 that the teeth may be operated upon. The openings I8 coact with the animals teeth 19 to position the mouth opening device with respect to the animals head and prevent the same from moving appreciably while in use. The device cannot move relative to the animals head any appreciable amount since the teeth l9 occupy substantially all of the space afiorded by the openings 18. Since the bars 12 are somewhat resilient, and the jaws I0 and II are actuated by the spring coils M, the animals mouth is resiliently held open by the device and some freedom of movement is thus afforded. However, the device is strong enough to hold open the animals mouth sufliciently at all times so that the teeth l9 are spaced far enough'apart to be treated conveniently by the operator. Theopenvenient position for treatment. When the device is applied to the animal, the bars 12 and spring coils l4 are of course disposed exteriorly of the animals head and only the bit lates [6 enter the mouth of the animal. The bars l2. as shown in Figure 1, and the spring coils I4 are disposed upon opposite sides of the animals head and the animal is facing forwardly or toward the forward arcuate bar sections 13 of the device. The device is bodily carried by the animal when applied thereto and no other connec- .tion with the animals body other than the engagement of the teeth IS with the openings I8 is required.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as -.a prefer-red example of the same, and

ing i8 is substantially twice as long as wide and is adapted to snugly receive the two long front held in place in the mouth by the front teeth. The opening [8 being centrally arranged upon the plate Hi, the plate extends for substantial distances around the opening. The plate extends beyond the opening in all directions for a greater distance than the corresponding dimensions of the opening. Since the rear edge I! of the plate is straight, such plate has a large area for covering portions of the mouth.

The lips or jowls of the animal are maintained spaced apart and away from the teeth H! by the arcuate reinforcing sleeves l5. These sleeves are spaced a suificient distance radially from the openings I8 to hold back the lips or jowls and prevent the same from overhanging the jaws l0 and H and interfering with the operation of a grinder or the like upon the teeth Hi.

It is thus seen that I have provided a mouth opening device which is highly simplified in construction, self-adjusting in the animals mouth and free from adjustable or moving parts. The device-functions to spread the animalsjaws apart resiliently and presents the teeth of the animal in convenient positions to be operated upon.

The openings in the ibit plate serve to connect the device to the head of the animal and hold it against displacement during use, while at the same time presenting the teeth in the most conthat various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A device for holding open the mouth of a chinchilla comprising, opposed generally horizontally -V-shaped jaws which converge forwardly and receive the head of the chinchilla within them, coil springs connecting the rear ends of the V-shaped jaws to bias them open, a wide substantially flat bite plate disposed inwardly of each V-shaped jaw, each plate being provided centrally thereof with a relatively small opening for snugly receiving the long front teeth of the chinchilla, said plate extending beyond the marginal edges of the opening for substantially a greater distance than the corresponding dimensions of said opening, and means securing each bite plate to the forward reduced end of the adjacent V-shaped jaw, the outer side of each V-shaped jaw extending outwardly beyond its bite plate for forming a lip stop.

FREDERICK C.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 442,180 Halfpenny, 13.6.0.9, .189 801,710 Carstensen 'Oct. "10, 1905 al an... 

